Attorneys representing two southern Illinois governments, area residents and the owner of a uranium conversion plant announced this week that they’ve reached an agreement that – if a federal judge signs off on it – would have the company settle ongoing lawsuits and legal claims for $80 million.
Solstice Advanced Materials announced Tuesday in a release that it had reached an agreement with the City of Metropolis, Massac County and other individual and class-action plaintiffs to settle longstanding litigation relating to operations of the Metropolis Works uranium conversion plant. Solstice was formed as a spin off of Honeywell, the longtime owner of the southern Illinois facility, and assumed ownership of the Massac County site last year.
“Solstice has determined that resolving the matter at this time is in the best interests of its shareowners and stakeholders, allowing it to avoid the expense, uncertainty and distraction associated with prolonged litigation,” the company said in a release.
The southern Illinois facility opened in 1958 under a federal contract before being deactivated in 1964 and reopening as a private conversion facility in 1967. It is the only plant in the United States that converts uranium ore concentrate – also known as “yellowcake” – into uranium hexafluoride. Other plants then take that resulting gas and enrich it to fuel nuclear power plants.
The proposed $80 million settlement would resolve multiple federal lawsuits involving the Metropolis Works facility. One of these lawsuits, filed in 2018, pertains to several property owners near the southern Illinois plant who claimed the facility expelled air from inside into the surrounding atmosphere – depositing radioactive materials and other metals in soil and buildings around Metropolis. Attorneys for these plaintiffs are seeking class-action status to represent anyone who owns a home within three miles of the plant. The City of Metropolis and Massac County filed a lawsuit in 2021 against then-facility owner Honeywell also seeking compensation for property damage.
Several individuals have also filed claims blaming illnesses or other health concerns on leaks of uranium hexafluoride and radioactive dust from the Metropolis Works plant.
Kevin Thompson, one of the lead attorneys in the ongoing cases, said the agreement would allow his clients – nearby property owners and individuals suing Honeywell over impacts to their health – to get compensation.
“I think everyone in the community is relieved that we finally [are getting] to the end,” Thompson said.
Solstice representatives said the company “continues to deny the allegations in the underlying lawsuits,” and that it is not admitting to any liability, wrongdoing or legal violation by agreeing to settle these legal matters.
According to a press release from the Kruger & Abell Law Firm – a southern Illinois practice that represented plaintiffs suing the facility’s owners – around $50 million from this proposed agreement is slated to go toward homeowners who live within three miles of the plant. Part of this portion of the funds will also be put toward a public health initiative.
Massac County and the City of Metropolis would split $20 million from the settlement, if it’s approved. That money would go toward a public health initiative and help pay for upgrades at Massac Memorial Hospital “so that it can address the unique health challenges that Metropolis faces,” according to the Kruger & Abell release. The remaining $10 million from the settlement would resolve several ongoing health-related individual legal claims.
According to the release from the southern Illinois law firm, the parties will also agree to negotiate an “alternative dispute resolution process” for anyone who receives a cancer diagnosis that can be “scientifically linked to radiation exposure.”
Thompson said the proposed settlement agreement still has to be approved by a federal judge. He said the earliest the judge could sign off on the settlement terms would be in late November.
Settlement comes as U.S. seeks to boost nuclear energy sector
The Trump administration has pushed for more domestic nuclear energy generation to meet increasing electricity demands.
In February, Solstice said it expected the Metropolis Works plant to produce more than 10,000 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride this year – a 20% jump from its planned output in 2024.
Last year, the Department of Energy awarded Solstice a five-year, $187.5 million grant to increase output at the Metropolis site – and to “offset litigation costs” associated with the southern Illinois facility.
The DOE is expected to reimburse Solstice for its settlement costs related to these Metropolis cases, according to the Kruger & Abell release. However, Bloomberg reports that while funds from the five-year DOE grant could be used to pay back Solstice for attorneys’ fees and settlement costs, the agreement outlining the government funding agreement does not specify how much of the proposed $80 million settlement can be paid with taxpayer dollars.
Solstice also announced earlier this year that it is exploring ways to expand its capacity at the Metropolis facility and looking into additional projects to increase production – backed, in part, by the DOE.
At the same time the southern Illinois facility is seeking to up production, nuclear-related projects are also gaining momentum across the Ohio River in and around Paducah, Kentucky.
General Matter plans to build a $1.5 billion uranium enrichment plant at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site – just under 20 miles away from the Metropolis uranium conversion facility. Global Laser Enrichment is also setting up shop in McCracken County, adjacent to the PGDP property, and is in the process of obtaining a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license for a $1.76 billion, first-of-its-kind commercial laser uranium enrichment facility.
